The huge crowd that gathered in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Rocky Steps on Monday night had to wait for hours until the evening’s headliner, Vice President Kamala Harris, finally took the stage.

Luckily, the star of the show had a pretty good opening list to warm up the stage for him. Among them, Sen. There were a number of elected officials on hand, including Bob Casey, Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, and a multi-talented gal of excitement like Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who took the stage at 7:30 p.m. and belted out the entire name. The brand’s attractions will be coming, including Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Oprah Winfrey and an impressive line-up of homegrown talent such as The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Freeway and Jazmine Sullivan (who had actually already performed by then).

But not all of them were homegrown. Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin brought plenty of showbiz excitement to the stage, taking the stage in front of a large group with a packed troupe of dancers and dropping a lyric about working out and “Livin La Vida Loca” that he woke up one morning and didn’t realize he was in Pennsylvania. Harris’ support for “La Copa de la Vida.”

Earlier in the evening at Ben Franklin Parkway, DJ Diamond Kuts entertained the crowd with a mix of hip-hop and old-school R&B hits, while Philly soul and hip-hop vocalist Sullivan took the stage in a black leather jacket and sunglasses. She introduced herself in person and to the livestream audience, saying she supported Harris in part because “I always feel safer when a woman is in a position of power.” It started with “Marvin Gaye’s classic song ‘What’s Going On’” because, she said, “They’re trying to take away our reproductive freedom. What’s going on right now?!”

His rendition accomplished the nearly impossible task of making Gaye’s timeless protest song his own, adding subtle vocal flourishes without any showiness. He followed this with his own “Masterpiece”, which he explained was a song about self-love.

After Sullivan’s eight-minute set, Philly’s own Freeway teamed up with North Jersey DJ producer Just Blaze to put together an impressive two-song set featuring two of his best-known songs. The duo got their start in 2002 with “Rock the Mic” from the movie starring Beanie Sigel. State Propertyand ended with “What We Do” from his debut album released the same year. Philadelphia Expressway. He dedicated the second one to three of his family members (father, son and daughter) who had died in the last four years. “What We Do”, which Freeway calls “Philadelphia’s National Anthem”, offers an irresistible sample taken from Creative Source’s “I Can’t See Myself Without You”. Before leaving, he told the crowd: “See you at the elections.”

The performances were brief and apparently designed to fit into a livestream event bringing together entertainment from various rallies across the country; Katy Perry singing in Pittsburgh and James Taylor playing in Raleigh, NC (“Carolina On My Mind” is no doubt).

Being on stage at the Parkway meant long breaks between shows; The crowd swayed to Stevie Wonder and Stevie Winwood songs or chanted “EAGLES… Eagles!” He was having fun with his song. hymnody.

Luckily, the Roots set quickly followed Freeway. Philly hip-hop community and The Tonight Show The house band started by digging deep with 2010’s “Dear God,” their moody, philosophical folk-rap collaboration with My Morning Jacket and Monsters of Folk’s Jim James.

This seemed like a negative left turn at first, but it was all part of an elaborate plan. Two verses later, drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson stopped the song in its tracks and said, “Wait a minute, Tarik!” he said. addresses the group’s co-leader, Tarik “Black Thought” Trotter. “We are at home. We need to energize this crowd. “Jazzy Jeff is with us,” they said, and they did this by sitting on their record players and scratching.

With that said, the band jumped first into some rousing James Brown-style funk, with Black Thought leading the crowd in chanting Harris’ name. He then transitioned into “Web,” a show-stopping rapid-fire burst of the Roots rapper’s gatling guns, where he describes himself as the “Black master of every trade under the sun/Talk sharp as a razor under the sun.” She also added that she was “all on my own, like Patti LaBelle.” This set lasted 15 minutes.

Following Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on stage, Bronx-born rapper Fat Joe, real name Joe Cartagena, began his speech by saying, “I heard they needed a Puerto Rican in Philly and I was so happy to come here.” Speaking of former president Donald Trump’s insistence that Haitian immigrants eat cats and dogs, the “Lean Back” rapper asked the crowd “when is enough enough?” he asked.

He didn’t perform, but he introduced Ricky Martin.

While people waited for Lady Gaga, who was behind schedule, Oprah Winfrey and Harris, DJ Cassidy took on the role of de facto emcee and emcee, stalling for time. Rallygoers had the opportunity to see Harris’ running mate Tim Walz’s stump speech twice on the video screen; one from Milwaukee and the other from Detroit. The latter was followed by a release that featured Jon Bon Jovi and husband-wife duo The War and Treat in Michigan teaming up on an acoustic “Living On A Prayer” accompanied by the Philadelphia crowd.

Lady Gaga’s arrival on stage at around 11:20 pm was simple and her time on stage was brief. He sang only one song that was not his own: “God Bless America,” sung alone on the piano. Gaga then talked about all the women who helped her become this woman and introduced Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who then introduced Oprah Winfrey, who then introduced a surprise guest: Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am. . He rapped a version of the 2008 Obama anthem: “Yes He Can,” revamped as: wait for it… “Yes He Can.”

This upbeat tune spawned Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” which became Harris’ theme song throughout the campaign. The candidate then revealed his faith in his audience: “Pennsylvania will determine the outcome of this election… and we will win!”

“We started this fight 107 days ago. And it wasn’t a fight against something, it was a fight for something. It is about our love for our country and our belief in a future that we will build together with energy and joy. Generations of Americans have led the struggle for freedom. “The flag is in our hands now,” he said.

Harris broke out to Beyoncé’s “Freedom” and it looked like it was going to be a long evening — “the biggest voting rally of all time!” According to DJ Cassidy – it was over. But not yet, it turns out.

Lady Gaga is back with another song. He returned to the piano with the power ballad “The Edge of Glory” from his 2011 album. I Was Born This Way. “Where are my daughters?” he asked, starting quietly and building to the song’s climax, as the crowd moved away from the Parkway and, possibly and eventually, to polling places Tuesday.

“As long as we’re together,” Gaga assured them. “We’ll be fine.”